We've been walking forever!" Bonnie said before plopping down right where she was, stopping the group from going any further. Dedenne poked his head out of Bonnie's pouch and echoed her sentiment.
Ash looked down at her with sympathy. "You know, she's right." he said scratching his head.
"Could we set up camp here for the night before it gets dark?" Serena said as she scoped out the area in all directions.
"Probably not a good idea." Clemont responded. He flipped through the pages of a pamphlet and stopped on a page that caught his attention. "Yup." He nodded to himself, seemingly affirming his suspicion. "This area is notorious for high-leveled Arbok and Mighteana who hunt on these grounds at night.
The group sighed.
"However, I do think we're getting closer to the next city." he said referring back to his pamphlet.
"I sure would hate to wake up in the middle of the night with an Arbok in my tent." Serena said with a shiver.
Bonnie touched Serena's legs and wiggled her fingers. "Sssssssssss,"
Serena cringed and nervously laughed, attempting to hide the fact that the idea genuinely scared her.
"You OK Serena?" Ash asked, trying his best not to laugh.
"Of course!" Serena huffed after side-stepping away from the trouble-making Bonnie.
Ash looked out into the ever-growing dark forest ahead. "I know," he said breaking silence. He reached for his belt and grabbed two Poke-Balls. "Talonflame, Noibat: Come on out!" he said, tossing their Poke-Balls into the air.
Talonflame and Noibat flapped their wings to keep them in the air just in front of their trainer. "I want you two to see how close we are to the next town." he gently commanded. The two Flying-types warmly accepted and soared through the skies above the forest.
"I hope a big, scary Pokemon doesn't try to come in my tent." Serena said quietly enough for Bonnie not to hear her.
"I would never let that happen." Ash responded in a firm yet calm tone, without taking his eyes off of Talonflame and Noibat.
A flabbergasted Serena blushed, "that's so sweet, Ash." She couldn't help but flirtatiously twirl her short hair around her finger.
Bonnie noticed the back and forth and grinned as if she were amused by it.
The group continued down the path. The forest grew darker and more silent the further they traveled.
Though Ash didn't voice his concern, he began to worry about Talonflame and Noibat.
"I'll be right back, I need to wash up!" Serena said, noticing a stream nearby.
"Be careful." Ash responded.
Serena traipsed off of the path to the stream. She got on her knees, cupped some of the flowing water and proceeded to splash some on her face. When she opened her eyes, the surrounding area had suddenly clouded with thick fog in each direction. The fog was so thick, Serena could only see part of the stream just in front of her. She panicked.
"Ash!" she yelled out, frantically looking in each direction.
Before she could even gather her thoughts, she heard the faint laugh of a little girl. Just then, everything went black.
After what felt like hours, Serena awoke on a hardwood floor. She shook her head and sat up. "What happened, and where am I?" She said to herself, attempting to analyze the odd situation.
The room Serena found herself in looked like what you would expect to see in an abandoned house: Old, dusty furniture and pictures on the wall.
The door was locked and the thick fog from earlier shattered any hopes of seeing what was outside, so instead, Serena climbed the squeaking staircase.
"Who was that girl from earlier? Where am I? Will Ash find me?" Serena's mind flooded with questions as she made her way through the creepy building.
She took a deep breath and gulped before opening a door the stairs brought her to. The room was completely empty, except for a picture lying on the floor in the middle of the room.
Still holding on to the door, Serena fixated on the picture, before deciding to investigate.
She picked it up and immediately screamed to the top of her lungs. The picture contained a lone tombstone that read, "R.I.P Ash Ketchum".
Serena dropped to her hands and knees, almost completely in a state of numbness from fear.
"What kind of sick game is this!? Ash? Who would do such a..."
Before Serena could finish her thought, the door behind her slowly creeked open. Paralyzed with fear, she turned around to greet a Gastly with a goofy grin.
"Gaaasssstlyyyyy," the ghost-type spooked.
Serena was filled with conflicting emotions: anger, confusion and relief. "It's just a Gastly." She sighed.
At this point, she didn't care if the Gastly had anything to do with her capture or not; she just wanted to get out. Gastly obviously meant no harm, but rather wanted to play around.
She rolled her eyes and left the room, Gastly closely followed.
As she made her way back down the stairs, she noticed something was off...
"Wait. This isn't the same staircase..." She said to herself in disbelief. Gastly had taken Serena's hat without her knowing and worn
it for himself. "This isn't funny!" Serena snapped, grabbing her hat and placing it back on her head.
The staircase spiraled down into what seemed like a black abyss. Unlike previously when she could clearly see the lower levels. "This is crazy. Is my mind playing tricks on me?"
Just then, she heard what sounded like laughing from further up the stairs. It was none other than one of the Malamar our heroes had encountered on their Kalos journey.
"It's you!" She shouted.
The Malamar smirked and fired a Dark Pulse that crashed near Serena and Gastly and sent them tumbling downstairs, all the way back into the entrance level. She struggled to regain strength. "What am I going to do?! Ash isn't here to save me!" She thought to herself, coughing and trying her best to stand back up. The Malamar slowly, maliciously floated downstairs.
Serena could do nothing but cry her eyes out and curl up on the floor where she was thrown. "Is...this it? My Pokemon aren't here to save me, Ash and the others aren't here. What am I going to do?" She tilted her head up and noticed the sinister Malamar closing in.
"Don't give up 'till its over, Kay?" A voice called out to her in her in her mind. Those simple yet tough words rang in her head as Malamar closed in and she barely stood on her feet. "Ash is right, I can do this on my own! COME AND GET ME!" She yelled with her arms spread out.
Malamar swung at her with a Psystrike.
She fearlessly embraced for the attack, only to witness the collision of Malamar and a Shadow Ball. A Haunter launched the attack and now hovered at Serena's side. "It's you!" she shouted in relief. The Gastly from earlier had evolved and come to her aid. Serena smirked and confidently stared down Malamar, who had backed down.
Serena held her new Poke-Dex up and obtained information on the newly evolved Haunter. "Haunter: Use Confuse Ray!" Serena commanded. Haunter's eyes began to glow a baby blue as he sent waves of confusion that hit Malamar.
"Okay! Now that we have it in the ropes, use Shadow Punch!" She commanded thrusting her arm out to the side. Haunter extended his right fist and swiftly sent the dazed and confused Malamar crashing into the walls.
Serena took advantage of the moment so she and Haunter could leave the creepy house. She stumbled out of the doors on to a paved street. The thick fog slowly dissipated...
"Serena!" A voice called out.
Before acknowledging the voice, Serena stood up and attempted to dust herself off, but Ash approached her and grabbed both of her shoulders, causing her to blush immensely.
"I was really worried about you!" He said to her, attempting to be firm and tender at the same time.
Struggling to not lose herself in the waves of infatuation, she nodded. "I fell behind, I'm sorry, Ash." She said, only allowing her voice to crack once.
"I'm just glad you're OK." He said with a smile.
They smiled at each other before Bonnie and Clemont interrupted the moment.
Serena!" Clemont called out, lagging behind as usual. "Here are your Poke-Balls!" He jumped when he noticed Bonnie playing with a Haunter. "Bonnie!" he scalded as his little sister played with the ghost-type.
"It's OK, Clemont. Haunter is my friend, he helped me find my way..."
Haunter floated over to Serena and comically licked her face, causing everyone to bust out laughing. "It looks like you have a new friend, Serena." Ash said, chuckling at the two.
With Ash's final Kalos League Gym battle and Serena's final showcases just on the horizon, the journey continues...